With a President like this I breathe freely

Had it happened, it would have been the greatest injustice in the history of South Africa. It would have been the greatest injustice if some entrenched interests had succeeded in derailing the leadership process in South Africa, truncating the bright political career of Cyril Ramaphosa. But he has emerged as the new president of that nation after President Jacob Zuma resigned, and, finally, I breathe freely. Two reasons for this sense of relief. One, my favourite South African leader, Ramaphosa, had arrived at the pinnacle of his political career as I had hoped since 1990 that he would. Two, all black men have been rescued from the negative stigma another of our leaders on the continent has accumulated in the past few years going by the occurrences in South Africa.

The last few weeks preceding his resignation had been the most contentious in Zuma’s two-term presidency. The last three years had been no less so. Those were three years during which the African National Congress struggled to keep their own in power in spite of some allegations against him, moral and financial. Also, internal issues regarding party and nation had been a concern; and among other nations an issue regarding the credibility of the scandal-ridden leadership in South Africa was another. I had been concerned about both for as long as the circus lasted. Here though, I concentrate on the effects of Zuma’s last few years in office. A few weeks back, I had stated on this page that if South Africa would have to continue to limp because of the liability that its leader had become, then it would be of no use to us.

Africa needed a South Africa that could carry its own weight around on the continent, not a South Africa that was becoming a moral liability before Ramaphosa emerged as president. Why? How many issues do we have to count around the continent? How many challenges are there without adding South Africa to it, or Nigeria? Leadership deficit in two of Africa’s most important nations? We can’t afford it, the burden is too much as it is. So, I wasn’t on the side of those who wanted Zuma to go for the sake of seeing him go. I thought he needed to go because of the added dilemma his stay had become to the continent. Equally, I’m not stating it for the first time on this page that Nigeria and South Africa must get it right. They have to be on their feet. The destiny of the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa, is on the shoulders of both nations. But in the past three years, South Africa was on the verge of crawling. Who would pull it up and make it walk if it does crawl? None. It’s Nigeria and South Africa that have the capacity and willingness to pull up others. Others can’t pull us up. That’s a reason neither can afford to become a dead weight, the direction in which South Africa was heading until February 18, 2018 happened.

It’s gratifying though that as Zuma fought to remain in power, diplomatic activities with Nigeria didn’t stop. Individual and continental issues continued to be in focus. I refer to the visit by our Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to South Africa. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, was also in that country not long ago, a fact that I had commended at the time. Military leaders in South Africa too had been visiting Abuja. No doubt, our military officers and those in South Africa feel good about one another and that’s good. But I don’t point to this for its own sake. I do because it shows what I have always canvassed, a Nigeria and South Africa that work as a unit. That’s happening militarily at the moment, even as the relations continue to develop.

Political leaders from both sides are working at the same. Governor Rochas Okorocha brought President Zuma to Owerri a few months ago. Earlier on, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, had visited South Africa to set up mechanisms meant to both curb and prevent violent attacks on Nigerians in that country. Onyeama had reported that South African officials were most willing and cooperative in the entire effort. I clap for South African officials on that score. And when was it that President Zuma held a meeting with President Buhari, and thereafter we learnt that a settlement over the fine slammed on MTN by the NCC had been reached? I noticed too that when our lawmakers expressed displeasure at the quiet in-house settlement that Aso Villa brokered with South Africa over the MTN saga, the Presidency had stoutly defended its role, spoken to the lawmakers behind closed doors, and all had been quiet from the dome ever since. To me, these are signs too that at the political level, Nigeria and South Africa are bonding. I look forward to more. But in what aspect?

Handling the affairs of a continent isn’t ever children’s play. When you have a continent like ours with all its foibles, having a few nations that show the path is important, as Germany does in Europe. Each nation must sit and solve its problems, yes. But some need serious prodding from the outside. I’m still baffled that some leaders on the continent do what we see them do and get away with it. I’m convinced they wouldn’t if the two nations that have the biggest mouths in the neighbourhood have been making themselves heard. But how can they speak up if they don’t get it right at home. Nigeria is going somewhere along this line. Uninterrupted civilian rule for almost 19 years. We don’t have all that we want. But we haven’t lacked all that we should have either. It’s the reason I’m never for wholesale condemnation of any administration in power. All I ask for is uninterrupted civilian rule. When that’s in place, what one administration doesn’t do, we shall demand it from the next one. It was my line of argument when I reacted to a contributor’s comment in the Daily Trust that saw only negatives in the Olusegun Obasanjo’s Presidency (“Nigeria: The small things that matter” – Daily Trust – April 16, 2007). When we maintain a stable democracy, we will have the opportunity to demand what the previous administration didn’t do from the next one. That way, we stand on our feet firmly enough to help others in the continent.

I hold the same view regarding what has just transpired in South Africa. There, civil and peaceful transfer of power win, and in a democratic manner. It’s worth an applause. Note that effective internal party mechanisms played a role. The ANC presented its presidential candidate to the nation, and it exercised its authority, withdrawing the same candidate when it felt such was necessary. In how many nations here does this happen? There’s also something to be said about a party that had stood by its president as the controversy around Zuma continued. There’s equally another to be said about a leader, Ramaphosa the Vice-President, who didn’t rock the boat in all the time it took his boss to play his last set of political cards in order to remain in power. In how many nations does a VP do that here? I had commended Ramaphosa on this page before that he was a real party man.

As we all look forward to the 2019 election, and while I wish my favourite presidential candidate, Ramaphosa, success in that election, the point trending now is that what South Africans couldn’t get from his predecessor they would demand from him. That’s the part to civilian rule that I like best. It’s happening in Nigeria. So, Ramaphosa must sit up and attend to those demands. He must also strive to reposition his nation internally so that it will be strong enough to continue to combine with Nigeria to make us strong in the continent. This is my foremost wish under his new administration.

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